JP2007118762A - Circumference monitoring system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image near a door including an opening/closing range of a door to an occupant of a vehicle. <P>SOLUTION: A camera 10 is attached to an upper part of the vehicle, and shoots the image including the opening/closing range of a target door. An image distortion correcting portion 22 corrects so as to remove distortion due to a lens of the image shot by the camera 10. An image view point converting portion 23 converts the image from which the distortion is removed by the image distortion correcting portion 22, into an image vied from right above the opening/closing range of the target door. A door opening/closing track computing portion 25 computes an opening/closing track of the target door. An image composing portion 27 forms a composition image obtained by composing the image shot by the camera 10 and converted by the image distortion correcting portion 22 and the image view point converting portion 23, and the opening/closing track of the target door obtained by the door opening/closing track computing portion 25; and gives a signal corresponding to the composition image to a display 30. On the display 30, an image superimposing the opening/closing range in a vehicular width direction of a door on the image including the circumference of the door is indicated. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a periphery monitoring monitor link system that monitors the periphery of a vehicle.

In recent years, a perimeter monitoring monitor link system that monitors a perimeter of a vehicle and assists a passenger is installed in many vehicles. Conventional peripheral monitoring and monitoring systems include those disclosed in Patent Documents 1 to 3.
JP 2003-320898 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-48828 JP 2001-55100 A

  For example, in Patent Document 1, a camera is incorporated in a door mirror, and the rear can be monitored even when the door mirror is closed. In Patent Document 2, images taken by a plurality of cameras are selected and displayed according to the driving situation of the vehicle. The arrangement of a plurality of cameras is shown in FIG. In Patent Document 3, for example, a plurality of cameras according to driving conditions are selected from a group of cameras mounted on a vehicle, and images obtained from the selected cameras are synthesized. The position and field of view of the camera are shown in FIG.

Conventional peripheral monitoring and monitoring systems disclosed in Patent Documents 1 to 3 and the like can provide a driver with an image corresponding to the driving state of the vehicle, but it is an obstacle particularly when opening and closing the door of the passenger seat. Not suitable for informing passengers of the existence of objects.
An object of the present invention is to provide a periphery monitoring monitoring system capable of notifying a passenger of the presence of an obstacle that hinders opening and closing of a door.

In order to achieve the above object, a peripheral monitoring system according to an aspect of the present invention is
A camera that is attached to a vehicle and that captures an image showing an opening and closing range of a target door attached to the vehicle;
A display device that is mounted on the vehicle and synthesizes and displays an image indicating an opening / closing range of the target door in the vehicle width direction with respect to an image captured by the camera;
It is characterized by providing.

  In addition, you may provide the viewpoint conversion means to convert the image which shows the opening / closing range of the said object door displayed on the said display apparatus into the image image | photographed from right above.

  In addition, door trajectory display means for obtaining a trajectory for opening and closing the target door and superimposing the trajectory on an image indicating the open / closed range of the target door displayed on the display device may be provided.

  Further, obstacle detection means for detecting the presence or absence of an obstacle that becomes an obstacle when opening the target door based on a trajectory of opening and closing of the target door and an image captured by the camera, and the obstacle detection means May be provided with an alarm means for generating an alarm when it is detected that there is an obstacle.

  In this case, the alarm means may display the alarm on the display device. Alternatively, the alarm means may generate the alarm by sound.

  According to the present invention, an image showing the opening / closing range of the target door in the vehicle width direction is combined with the image showing the opening / closing range of the door and displayed. Therefore, when there is an obstacle in the opening / closing range of the door, it is possible to prevent the door from being opened carelessly. Thereby, damage of a door etc. can be prevented.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a perimeter monitoring system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIGS. 2A and 2B are views showing the appearance of the vehicle 1.

  The periphery monitoring monitoring system shown in FIG. 1 is a system that monitors the opening / closing range in the vehicle width direction of the vehicle 1 of the passenger seat door 2 (in the case of the right handle) of the vehicle 1 shown in FIG. 1 includes a control unit 20 incorporated in an electronic control unit (ECU) mounted on 1 and a display 30.

  The camera 10 is attached to, for example, a B peeler 3 of the vehicle 1, and images the opening / closing range of the door 2 and its surroundings from a position higher than the door 2 from above. The camera 10 includes a lens and a charge coupled device (CCD) (not shown), captures an image input through the lens, converts the image into an electrical signal, and outputs the electrical signal. In the image captured by the camera 10, not only the road surface but also a part of the door 2, the door mirror 4 and the like are imaged. Further, if there is an obstacle 5 in the vicinity of the door 2, the obstacle 5 is also imaged.

  The control unit 20 in the ECU includes a camera signal capture unit 21 that inputs an electric signal given from the camera 10, an image distortion correction unit 22, an image viewpoint conversion unit 23, a camera image output unit 24, and a door opening / closing locus calculation. A unit 25, a door opening / closing locus display unit 26, and an image composition unit 27 are provided.

  The image distortion correction unit 22 has a function of removing distortion existing in an image captured by the camera 10, and is connected to the camera signal capture unit 21. A signal indicating the image captured by the camera 10 is input to the image distortion correction unit 22 via the camera signal capture unit 21.

  The image viewpoint conversion unit 23 is connected to the image distortion correction unit 22 and performs viewpoint conversion processing on an image represented by a signal given from the image distortion correction unit 22. In this viewpoint conversion processing, for example, an image including the open / closed range of the door 2 is converted into an image captured from directly above.

  A camera image output unit 24 is connected to the output side of the image viewpoint conversion unit 23, and an output side of the camera image output unit 24 is connected to the image composition unit 27. The camera image output unit 24 outputs a signal corresponding to the image converted by the image viewpoint conversion unit 23 to the image synthesis unit 27.

On the other hand, the door opening / closing locus calculation unit 25 is a circuit that calculates a locus when the door 2 is opened and closed in an image captured by the camera, and is connected to the camera signal capture unit 21.
The door opening / closing locus display unit 26 is connected to the output side of the door opening / closing locus calculation unit 25, and the output side of the door opening / closing locus display unit 26 is connected to the image composition unit 27. The door opening / closing locus display unit 26 generates a signal indicating the locus of opening / closing of the door 2 and outputs the signal to the image composition unit 27.
The image composition unit 27 captures an image captured by the camera 10 based on the signals given from the camera image output unit 24 and the door locus display unit 26, and the camera image via the image distortion correction unit 22 and the image viewpoint conversion unit 23. The trajectory of opening and closing the door 2 is synthesized by superimposing and a signal corresponding to the synthesized image is output to the display 30.

  The image distortion correction unit 22, the image viewpoint conversion unit 23, the camera image output unit 24, the door opening / closing locus calculation unit 25, the door opening / closing locus display unit 26, and the image composition unit 27 are configured by individual circuits as shown in FIG. However, a CPU (Central Processing Unit), an image memory, a working RAM (Random Access Memory), a DSP (Digital Signal Processor), or the like may be used.

  The display 30 is composed of a liquid crystal panel or the like, and is provided with a power switch, various select buttons, etc. (not shown). The display 30 displays an image around the door 2 including the opening / closing range of the door 2. The display 30 does not exclusively display the image of the door 2 including the opening / closing range of the door 2, but may display another image such as an image of a car navigation or an image behind the vehicle. In this case, for example, when it is detected that the vehicle 1 is stopped and the door 2 is unlocked, the peripheral image of the door 2 including the open / closed range of the door 2 may be selected and displayed. . Further, when a select button provided on the display 30 is selectively pressed, a peripheral image of the door 2 including the opening / closing range of the door 2 may be displayed.

Next, the operation of the periphery monitoring monitoring system of this embodiment will be described.
As shown in FIG. 3, the camera 10 attached to the B pillar 3 of the vehicle 1 captures an image showing the open / closed range of the door 2 from the top of the door 2, converts the captured image into an electrical signal, and outputs the electrical signal. Each pixel of the image captured by the camera 10 is represented as a signal indicating the luminance of each color of red (R), green (G), and blue (B). The electrical signal output from the camera 10 is input to the camera signal capture unit 21 of the control unit 20.

The image distortion correction unit 22 inputs an electrical signal output from the camera 10 via the camera signal capture unit 21. That is, an image captured by the camera 10 is acquired.
The image captured by the camera 10 is an image input to the camera 10 through a lens and includes distortion. 4A and 4B are explanatory diagrams of distortion.

  When the image 41 captured by the camera 10 is divided into minute regions, the minute region Ra of the center O41 of the image 41 corresponds to light that has passed near the center of the lens and has a small reduction rate. The small area Rb far from the center O41 has a large reduction rate. That is, the viewing angle of the camera 10 corresponding to the image of the region Rb is larger than the viewing angle of the camera 10 corresponding to the image of the minute region Ra. As shown in FIG. 4b, this viewing angle is determined by the distance from the center O41, and increases as the distance increases.

  The image distortion correction unit 22 performs a process of replenishing pixels according to the distance from the center O41 for each minute region obtained by dividing the image 41 in order to perform correction for removing distortion in the image 41. By performing such pixel replenishment, the area of each minute region becomes an area corresponding to the viewing angle of the camera 10. That is, the area of the minute region that is far from the center O41 is increased, and the distortion in the image 41 can be removed. In addition, when the pixel is replenished, the luminance of the pixel to be replenished is set from the luminance of the surrounding pixels, thereby reducing the unnaturalness of the image. Further, adjacent minute regions are overlapped by pixel replenishment. However, by setting the overlapped pixels to a luminance obtained by averaging the luminances of the overlapped pixels, deterioration in image quality can be avoided.

The image distortion correction unit 22 gives a signal corresponding to the corrected image to the image viewpoint conversion unit 23.
The image viewpoint conversion unit 23 performs viewpoint conversion on the image from which the distortion is removed by the image distortion correction unit 22. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of viewpoint conversion.

  The mounting angle θ of the camera 10 and the height h of the camera 10 are determined at the mounting stage of the camera 10, and the distance L from the vehicle 1 in the road surface range R taken by the camera 10 is also determined by the mounting state of the camera 10. The image viewpoint conversion unit 23 stores these parameters determined by the mounting state of the camera 10, converts the viewpoint using the stored parameters, and converts the image captured by the camera 10 into an image viewed from directly above. To do.

  In this conversion process, the image Im1 captured by the camera 10 is converted into an image Im2 perpendicular to the optical axis of the camera 10, and then the image Im2 is virtually converted by the virtual camera 50 attached directly above the range R. The captured image Im3 is converted. When the image Im1 is converted to the image Im2, a portion located farther from the optical axis of the camera 10 is enlarged in the image Im2, and a portion located on the vehicle 1 side than the optical axis of the camera 10 is reduced. Here, in order to prevent deterioration of the image quality in the final image Im3, it is desirable to replenish pixels for enlargement of a portion farther from the optical axis of the camera 10. Further, it is desirable to set the luminance of the pixel to be supplemented to a value obtained from the luminance of the surrounding pixels.

  The camera image output unit 24 gives a signal corresponding to the image subjected to viewpoint conversion by the image viewpoint conversion unit 23 to the image synthesis unit 27.

The door opening / closing locus calculation unit 25 detects a pixel group corresponding to the door 2 based on the signal given from the camera signal capture 21, detects the positions of both ends of the door 2, and calculates and calculates the opening / closing locus of the door 2. . That is, the range of movement of the open end of the door 2 is obtained.
The door opening / closing locus display unit 26 gives a signal corresponding to an image corresponding to the opening / closing locus of the door 2 obtained by the door opening / closing locus calculation unit 25 to the image composition unit 27.
Based on the signals given from the camera image output unit 24 and the door opening / closing locus display unit 26, the image composition unit 27 captures the camera image that has been captured by the camera 10 and converted by the image distortion correction unit 22 and the image viewpoint conversion unit 23. On the other hand, the image of the locus of opening and closing of the door 2 is synthesized by superimposing. The image composition unit 27 converts a signal corresponding to the composite image into, for example, a composite signal of NTSC (National Television Standards Committee) and outputs the composite signal to the display 30.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the display 30 displays an image including the periphery of the door 2 and the opening / closing locus of the door 2 in the vehicle width direction. Thereby, the passenger of the vehicle 1 can determine whether there is an obstacle 5 in the opening / closing range of the door 2.

  Since the periphery monitoring monitoring system according to the present embodiment employs the above-described configuration, it has the following advantages.

  (1) Since the camera 10 is attached to the B pillar 3 and an image showing the opening / closing range of the door 2 is captured from the upper side and displayed on the display 30, the passenger of the vehicle 1 can confirm the state of the road surface outside the door 2. It is possible to prevent the door 2 from being damaged.

  (2) Since the image distortion correction unit 22 is provided and an image from which image distortion has been removed is displayed on the display 30, an image that is close to the actual image can be given to the passenger.

  (3) Since the image viewpoint conversion unit 23 is provided and the opening / closing range of the door 2 and the vicinity thereof are viewed from directly above and displayed on the display 30, the distance between the obstacle 5 and the door 2 is displayed to the passenger. The feeling can be recognized.

  (4) Since the opening / closing locus of the door 2 is displayed, it is possible to reliably notify the passenger of the presence or absence of the obstacle 5 when the door 2 is opened / closed.

In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, A various deformation | transformation is possible.
For example, the mounting position of the camera 10 is not limited to the B pillar 3. You may make it mount on the roof of the vehicle 1 and image | photograph the downward direction. Moreover, you may attach in the visor of the door 2. FIG.
Furthermore, although the door 2 to be photographed is a passenger seat door, other doors may be targeted.
In addition, when an obstacle can be detected from the image around the door 2 and the locus of the door 2, the control unit 20 may serve as an obstacle detection unit and generate an alarm for the passenger. As an alarm, for example, it may be displayed on the display 30 with characters, or an image showing the outline of an obstacle may be blinked. Moreover, you may make it the structure which sounds the sound as a warning.

It is a block diagram which shows the periphery monitoring monitoring system which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the external appearance of a vehicle. It is a figure which shows the image imaged with the camera. It is explanatory drawing of distortion. It is explanatory drawing of viewpoint conversion. It is a figure which shows the example of an image displayed on a display.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vehicle 2 Door 3 B pillar 4 Door mirror 5 Obstacle 10 Camera 20 Control part 21 Camera signal capture part 22 Image distortion correction part (distortion correction means)
23 Image viewpoint conversion unit (viewpoint conversion means)
24 camera image output unit 25 door opening / closing locus calculation unit (door locus display means)
26 Door Open / Close Trajectory Display Unit 30 Display (Display Device)

Claims (4)

A camera that is attached to a vehicle and that captures an image showing an opening and closing range of a target door attached to the vehicle;
A display device that is mounted on the vehicle and synthesizes and displays an image indicating an opening / closing range of the target door in the vehicle width direction with respect to an image captured by the camera;
A peripheral monitoring monitoring system characterized by comprising:   The periphery monitoring monitoring system according to claim 1, further comprising a viewpoint conversion unit that converts an image showing the opening / closing range of the target door displayed on the display device into an image taken from directly above.   3. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a door locus display unit that obtains a locus of opening and closing of the target door and superimposes the locus on an image indicating an opening and closing range of the target door displayed on the display device. Perimeter monitoring system.   Based on the trajectory of opening and closing the target door and the image captured by the camera, obstacle detection means for detecting the presence or absence of an obstacle that becomes an obstacle when opening the target door, and obstacle detection by the obstacle detection means The perimeter monitoring monitoring system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising alarm means for generating an alarm when it is detected that there is an object.

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